The World This Week by Oliver Fennell Jul 25th 2007

Oliver Fennell sums up the international action of interest from the past seven days. Results with relevance to British boxing are in bold. July 18 A huge upset at flyweight saw Japanese challenger Daisuke Naito end the long reign of WBC king Pongsaklek Wonkongkam. The Thai superstar had beaten Naito twice before and was making the 18th defence of his crown – a division record. It was third time lucky for Naito, though, as he outboxed a seemingly complacent Wonjongkam in Tokyo for a unanimous decision. A WBC flyweight predecessor of Wonjongkam's enjoyed more success in Bangkok. Chatchai Sasakul outpointed obscure Filipino Roger Monserto over eight routine rounds. Sasakul lost the title to Manny Pacquiao back in 1998 and hasn't fought for a world title since despite winning 28 of 29 subsequent contests for a 61-3 overall record. Popular Aussie Danny Green made a statement in the light heavyweight division by knocking out respected American Otis Griffin in the third round. The victory, in Perth and for a slew of regional trinkets, may put Green in line for a shot at Britain's IBF champion Clinton Woods. American prospect Mike Oliver claimed a career-best scalp by outpointing grizzled Mexican Cruz Carbajal over 12 rounds in an IBF super bantamweight eliminator in Boston. July 19     Walter Estrada, who gave Scott Harrison problems in a 2004 WBO featherweight challenge, was shockingly knocked out of the title picture by unheralded Venezuelan Rafael Hernandez in Barranquilla, Colombia. July 20 Heavyweight contender Fres Oquendo kept his name in the frame by outpointing decent Cuban Elieser Castillo in Miami. Puerto Rican Oquendo landed the WBO Latino belt, despite this fight being two rounds short of the championship distance. A match between young middleweights on the undercard saw Nigeria's Eromosele Albert force a seventh-round corner retirement over Haitian Daniel Edouard. Finally, undefeated heavyweight Malik Scott outpointed trusty old Sedrick Fields … over four rounds, a ridiculous distance for a “prospect” who is now 29-0. Prospect Alex de Jesus unanimously outpointed recent two-time world light welterweight title challenger Arturo Morua over 12 rounds in Kissimmee, Florida. De Jesus, of Puerto Rico, picked up the WBA Fedecaribe belt with the win over a Mexican who had been in with Ricardo Torres and Junior Witter this year. Ancient Japanese operator Yoshinori Nishizawa trundled on at 42, picking up the WBF International super middleweight belt with a seventh-round knockout of Kensuwit Tor Silichai in Newcastle, Australia. July 21 A bumper promotion in Las Vegas was topped by evergreen Bernard Hopkins outscoring fellow veteran Ronald ‘Winky' Wright over 12 rounds for the linear world light heavyweight championship. In a contest which was much more exciting than anticipated between two traditionally cagey old campaigners, Hopkins defied his 42 years with a vigorous performance to outfight and outwit the seven-years-younger Wright for a unanimous decision. After this latest success, Hopkins turned his attentions on Wales' super middleweight ruler Joe Calzaghe. Action-packed supporting action in Las Vegas almost ended in tragedy for Oscar Larios and Czar Amonsot. Larios was stopped by rising star Jorge Linares in the 10th session of their WBC interim featherweight title fight, while Amonsot went the 12-round distance in a terrific scrap with WBO interim lightweight claimant Michael Katsidis. Mexico's Larios and Filipino Amonsot both suffered bleeding to the brain as a result of their damaging encounters, but thankfully, at the time of writing, it looked as thought they would both recover. Larios and Katsidis are both well known to British fans for stirring contests against our boxers – Larios for two toe-to-toe tussles with Wayne McCollough, and Katsidis for February's epic against Graham Earl. Further notable action down the card in Vegas saw Bernard Hopkins' nephew Demetrius score a one-round stoppage over Haider Berrio at light welterweight, and super middleweight contender Librado Andrade punch out Ted Muller in two. Ancient Canadian Egerton Marcus resurfaced from a six-year hiatus to outscore journeyman Carl Gathright over eight rounds in Richmond, Canada. Marcus, 42, is now a heavyweight but was a decent contender at cruiserweight and light heavy in the 1990s. July 22 Recent flyweight title challenger Tomonobu Shimizu returned from his audacious but unsuccessful challenge to Pongsaklek Wonjongkam in April, scoring a fifth-round technical decision over compatriot Yasushi Matsushita in Fukui, Japan.

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